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Thu Apr 30, 2009 at 13:40:07 PM CDT

It's day four for legal same-sex marriage in Iowa, and I still haven't seen any reports of couples being refused a marriage license anywhere in the state. The Des Moines Register reported that about 350 same-sex couples received marriage licenses on Monday, the day the Iowa Supreme Court's ruling in Varnum v Brien went into effect. More than half of those applications were in five large counties: Polk (Des Moines area), Johnson (Iowa City), Linn (Cedar Rapids), Pottawattamie (Council Bluffs) and Scott (Quad Cities area).

According to this map on the Des Moines Register's site, about half of Iowa's 99 counties have issued at least one marriage license to a same-sex couple. No counties have denied marriage licenses yet, but many have yet to receive an application from a same-sex couple.

Today Iowa Politics is holding a forum on the Supreme Court's Varnum v Brien decision. The panelists will be Brad Clark, campaign director of One Iowa, and Brad Sherman, a pastor in Coralville who is also a board member for the Iowa Christian Alliance and Miracle Life Ministries, and Choices Medical Clinic. This free event will be in Drake University's Levitt Hall in Old Main, 2507 University Ave. in Des Moines. The event later will be broadcast on the Mediacom Connections channel statewide and will be available for On Demand viewing on Mediacom Channel 1. Doors open at 3:30 p.m. and taping of the show will be from 4 p.m. to 5 p.m.

Speaking of One Iowa, the group is trying to raise $25,000 by the end of April (that's today) in order to collect on a matching gift that will keep their television ad on the air. Click here to watch the ad and donate.

The fact that a run of states have legalized gay marriage in recent months - either by court decision or by legislative action - with little backlash is only one indication of how public attitudes about this subject appear to be changing.

More significant is evidence in polls of a widening divide on the issue by age, suggesting to many Republicans that the potency of the gay-marriage question is on the decline. It simply does not appear to have the resonance with younger voters that it does with older ones.

Consider this: In the latest New York Times/CBS News poll, released on Monday, 31 percent of respondents over the age of 40 said they supported gay marriage. By contrast, 57 percent under age 40 said they supported it, a 26-point difference. Among the older respondents, 35 percent said they opposed any legal recognition of same-sex couples, be it marriage or civil unions. Among the younger crowd, just 19 percent held that view.

Next week I'M for Iowa is bringing Alexander Robinson of the National Black Justice Coalition to Iowa to talk about marriage equality. After the jump I've posted an e-mail from I'M for Iowa, which contains background information on Robinson as well as event details.

We are honored to host Alexander Robinson's visit to Iowa next week. As a gay African-American who heads the National Black Justice Coalition, Alexander will share his story and dialogue with Iowans about civil-marriage equality. With the help of a great list of coalition partners (see below), we've organized events for Alexander in Des Moines, Fort Dodge, Waterloo, Iowa City, Dubuque, Clinton, Davenport and Cedar Rapids. Complete details are in the EVENTS section of this update.

Alexander was a former CPA and corporate executive who also sports a long history as a public policy analyst and commentator. He spent three years as an independent political strategist and communications specialist serving a wide variety of public interest groups including the NAACP, National Council of LaRaza, National Urban League Policy Institute, and the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights.

Alexander's activism began in the late 197 0s. He served on the board of the Stonewall Democrats, was a member of the San Francisco Gay Pride Parade & Celebration Committee, served on the Host Committee for the 1984 Democratic National Convention, and helped with the March for Lesbian/Gay Rights. President Clinton appointed Alexander to the Presidential Advisory Council on HIV/AIDS, where he chaired the Sub-committee of Prevention and Education.

He also worked with the Breakthrough Foundation's Youth-at-Risk Program, the Washington Area Council on Alcoholism and Drug Abuse, currently serves on the Board of Directors for the National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty, and was a member of Obama for America's National LGBT Steering Committee. He is the recipient of numerous awards, including most recently the Andrew Goodman Freedom Prize.

A writer and political commentator, his coming out story is chronicled in the recently released book, Crisis: 40 Stories Revealing the Personal, Social, and Religious Pain and Trauma of Growing up Gay in America. Alexander's writings have appeared in The New York Times, Bilerico.com, BlackAmericanWeb.com, The Advocate, The Washington Blade and numerous other local and national journals.

Alexander and his partner Gregory Satorie were married in San Francisco in October of last year, and he has one son from his previous marriage. Alexander and Gregory make their home in Baltimore, Maryland.

We are grateful to all the Iowa groups who have worked in coalition with us to make this tour possible, including:

Thanks for reading, and we hope to see you at one of next week's events.

Lynn and Ed Fallon

EVENTS
[...]

May 4 - Reception for Alexander Robinson - Des Moines

Alexander is the president and CEO of National Black Justice Coalition and is touring Iowa to discuss the recent court ruling on marriage equality. The reception is at 7:00 p.m. at the Des Moines Social Club, 1408 Locust Street, Des Moines. Please join us for an informal gathering and the opportunity to welcome Alexander to Iowa.

May 5 - Public meeting with Alexander Robinson - Fort Dodge

The meeting is at 9:00 a.m. and will be held at Citizens Central, Fort Dodge Senior Center, 617 Central Ave., Fort Dodge. The event is co-sponsored by Fort Dodge Human Rights Committee, Webster County Cultural Diversity Team, Planned Parenthood of Greater Iowa, Equality Iowa, One Iowa, and Interfaith Alliance of Iowa.

May 5 - Public meeting with Alexander Robinson - Waterloo

The meeting is at 12:00 noon, and will be at The Philanthropy Cente r, 425 Cedar St., 3rd Floor, U.S. Bank Building, Waterloo. The event is co-sponsored by the Waterloo Human Rights Committee, Equality Iowa, One Iowa, and Interfaith Alliance of Iowa.

May 5 - Public meeting with Alexander Robinson - Iowa City

Alexander will speak in the Plaza Conference Room at the Hotel Vetro on the Ped Mall in downtown Iowa City. The event is organized by Connections, begins at 7:00 p.m., and is co-sponsored by Equality Iowa, One Iowa, and Interfaith Alliance of Iowa. Contact malone.bridget@gmail.com.

Alexander will speak at 2:00 p.m. at Metropolitan Community Church of the Quad Cities, 3019 N. Harrison, Davenport. Co-sponsors for this event include Civil Rights Forum of Progressive Action for the Common Good, Metropolitan Community Church of the Quad Cities, Equality Iowa, One Iowa, and Interfaith Alliance of Iowa.

Alexander will participate in a panel discussion at 7:00 p.m. at Polk County Central Senior Center, 2008 Forest Avenue, Des Moines. Panelists include Tim Tutt, Yvonne Jones and Kittie Knauer. Light refreshments will be served after the event. Sp onsors include all our Des Moines-area and statewide partners, listed above.